Expanding coverage and cutting health care costs: ideas for 2018

The controversy over health care reform often boils down to two issues: coverage and cost. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) made significant impact on the coverage issue, dropping the uninsured rate below 10 percent for the first time in the recorded history of the United States, covering 20+ million Americans in the 8 years since it was passed, and putting the United States on a reasonable path toward universal coverage. Despite its name, however, the ACA has not made health care “affordable” for the vast majority of Americans. While the individual marketplace has offered reasonable, comprehensive coverage to nearly 10 million customers in the individual market, premiums continue to climb, deductibles continue to rise, and the opacity of health care pricing persists. While liberals often focus on coverage and conservatives tend to care about costs, what can health reform advocates on either side of the political divide accomplish in 2018, tempered by the fact that the enemies of Obamacare control the White House and the Congress? In this — my annual policy prescription — I detail a few possible ways advocates can act to improve on coverage numbers while also suggesting a means to reduce the cost of care in the United States. It’s simple, really. Let’s ask voters and the states to bring coverage options to more Americans while asking the federal government to make meaningful changes designed to bring down the cost of health care. Continue reading ......
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Policy Public Health & Washington Watch Source Type: blogs